Studio Blog
Hi, my name is Jay Holzer, the Director of Video Production for Demand Studios. Every day, I have the privilege of working with filmmakers across the globe to create high quality video content for sites like eHow and LIVESTRONG.COM. In the four years since we launched what has become the Demand Studios Filmmaker Program, I have also had the privilege of watching the production process for online video go through a significant evolution.
We shot our very first made-for-Internet instructional videos on a Canon GL2 (a $3,500, standard-definition MiniDV camera) and published them to a then-unknown video sharing site named YouTube. Today, our original videos have been viewed by millions of users and the landscape couldn’t be more different. Online video is expected to account for 80% of all Internet consumption within the next year. Thanks to innovations from companies like RED, Panasonic, and Canon the barrier to entry for professional-quality high-definition video continues to get lower. The lines, especially around cost, are already starting to blur between still camera and video camera. Many SLR-like 2009 models now come standard with interchangeable lenses, full HD resolution, and variable frame rates. Seasoned professionals are now able to create even higher quality content while a new crop of budding filmmakers, once barred due to high costs, are able to equip themselves with the latest technology.
At Demand Studios we’re already seeing this trend within our filmmaker community. When we began recruiting filmmakers in 2005, our application form had a drop-down for “Camera Model” and a list of the 10 industry-standard cameras for any prospective filmmaker. Today the pro-level camera options for filmmakers are far too numerous to list. Our filmmakers shoot with everything from the $800 Canon HV20 to the $18,000 RED ONE, each capable of producing the professional HD images that our sites have come to expect (and demand) from our videos. Whether it’s How to Use a Stationary Bike on LIVESTRONG.COM, or How to Grow Green Peppers on eHow, these advancements have made it possible for Demand Studios to build one of the largest libraries of HD video, and add to it daily.
In an environment where technology has led to smaller, less expensive cameras, while distribution channels for video continue to grow, the opportunities for filmmakers will be limitless. When I started with the company I was a film school grad working on borrowed equipment that I couldn’t afford to buy. My goal was to be able to go out and shoot something I would be proud of. Looking back, I never dreamed that we would have created opportunities for filmmakers like myself to produce more than 150,000 videos and become the No. 1 contributor to YouTube-- all while helping to build great brands like LIVESTRONG.COM and eHow. As the Demand Studios team works to build the world’s largest filmmaking community, we look forward to providing current and future filmmakers with a way to put their talent to work.
